It was time for us to checkout, and you can bet we took as much advantage of the Aulani's amenities as we possibly could. My godson's father wanted to do the self-guided tour again, so we did. Haha my legs were killin' me from the previous day, but I had to get my exercise on, lol.
Guess which one is me, haha...
SPOILER ALERT: If you don't want to see some of Aulani's hidden menehune, don't read this section.
The imagineers of the Aulani project built in a number of secrets into the resort. One of those many secrets is Aulani's hidden menehune. Menehune are Hawaiian mystical beings, and in our mo'olelo (stories) they were described as a tribe of people with magical and physical power.
Disney's interpretation of what menehune look like, were quite interesting in my personal opinion, some of them looked pretty cool like little people, while others looked more like monkeys. It is rumored that there are over 300 of them hidden throughout Aulani's property, I took photos of a handful of them.
Lobby/elevator area menehune...
Recreation room/Luana room menehune...
Pool area menehune...
ANOTHER SPOILER ALERT: If you don't want to know about the hidden animals near the pool area (Waikolohe, do not read on.)
I remember reading in an article when the Aulani was being built that in the Waikolohe pool area, in the mountains, there's a bunch of sculpted animals both native and introduced.
Do you see anything?
If you look closely, there's an octopus...
A crab...
And a stingray...
Here's a few other creatures, including a humpback whale...
Jackson chameleon...
A school of fish (kinda hard to see)...
An ulua fish...
An eel? (I wasn't sure about this one)...
A humuhumunukunukuapua'a fish...
An owl...
A turtle...
A monk seal...
And a shark...
I also went to the 'Ewa wing of the resort, where there's paintings/art related to women, this killer painting done again by Po'oloa...
And more paintings on each of the 'Ewa Wing floors...
And more female paintings done by Po'oloa...
I also checked out the 'olelo bar, where you can order your drinks in Hawaiian if you want. The room is decked with wooden carved sculptures with the Hawaiian word that pertains to that piece. In the evening there's Hawaiian music. The night prior there was one of my favorite Hawaiian groups Ho'okena, minus two of their band members, but they still sounded great.
All in all, even with its controversy, I enjoyed myself at the Aulani. Overall, the staff were very friendly. We did have a minor "bump" with my friend's paperwork and room reservation, but it was all countered with cleanliness, an unreal collection of art and happy memories for my godson, his friends and his family.
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